More than just Nopcsaʹs Transylvanian dinosaurs: A look outside the Haţeg Basin

Since the end of the 19th century the notorious palaeontologist Baron Nopcsa reported several Late Cretaceous small-sized dinosaurs in the Haţeg Basin. He explained their sizes as the consequence of unusual evolution on an island he named the “Haţeg Island”. He found similar dinosaurs outside Haţeg in other regions of Transylvania, near Alba Iulia, or nearby Jibou. Recent surveys carried out in these areas support Nopcsaʹs presumptions, even adding several new outcrops with dinosaur remains. In Sălaj and Cluj Counties, the dinosaur fossils are rather scarce, but still obvious in the Jibou Formation. In Alba County, the main outcrops are located between Vurpăr and Şard on the right bank of the Mureş River, but also between Petreşti and Oarda de Jos along the Sebeş Valley. The majority of the taxa from Haţeg are also documented in these areas. During the Palaeogene and early Miocene, several of these Mesozoic reptile bones were reworked to younger deposits. Another area with high potential for finding Maastrichtian vertebrates is the Rusca Montană Basin.